In the Old Testament,
unlike in the New Testament, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit was selective
and only for a specific purpose.
Exodus 31:1-5 (NIV)
Then the Lord said to Moses, 2 “See, I have chosen Bezalel
son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, 3 and I have filled him with
the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all
kinds of skills— 4 to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and
bronze, 5 to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of
crafts. 6 Moreover, I have appointed Oholiab son of Ahisamak, of the tribe of
Dan, to help him. Also I have given ability to all the skilled workers to make
everything I have commanded you:
Here we have God telling
Moses that He has called out Bezalel and filled him with the Holy Spirit and
gifted him with a number of spiritual gifts to enable the construction of the
tabernacle and it’s ornamental decoration and to teach others to do the same.
Numbers 27:18 (NIV)
So the Lord said to Moses,
“Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit of leadership, and lay
your hand on him.
In the above verse God tells Moses to lay hands on Joshua as His spirit was in him (Joshua) and the purpose of
the spirit being in him was for leadership, Joshua was to succeed Moses as God's anointed leader of Israel. This is also one of the first instances of the
laying on of hands on someone for an impartation of the Holy Spirit.
In the book of Judges we
see that God raised up a number of Judges, such as Samson, to deliver Israel
from oppression. These Judges were only able to act once the Spirit of God had
come upon them. The Judges were chosen by God alone for this task. Read the
book of Judges for yourselves and you will see what I mean!
1 Samuel 10:10 (NIV)
When he and his servant
arrived at Gibeah, a procession of prophets met him; the Spirit of God came
powerfully upon him, and he joined in their prophesying.
In this verse the Holy
Spirit came upon Saul and he began to prophesy. Those that were witness to this
event then realised that God’s anointing was upon Saul and that he was a
changed man as was foretold by the prophet Samuel in verse 6 of this same
chapter below.
1 Samuel 10:6 (NIV)
The Spirit of the Lord
will come powerfully upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be
changed into a different person.
King David knew the
presence of the Holy Spirit in his life! The Holy Spirit empowered him to be a
great warrior and it was from his lineage that our Lord Jesus took on His
humanity. David knew God’s presence was with him through the Holy Spirit as we see in the below verse:
Psalm 139:7 (NIV)
Where can I go from your
Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?
And, of course, all the prophets and writers of the Bible, Old and New Testament wrote under the power of the Holy
Spirit and by the same token, all prophecy came from men in the power of the
Holy Spirit.
John 1:1 (NIV)
In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 Peter 1:21 (NIV)
For prophecy never had its
origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they
were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
2 Tim 3:16-17 (NIV)
All Scripture is
God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in
righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for
every good work.
In the Old Testament the infilling
of the Holy Spirit was selective and for a period of time and for a specific
purpose only, unlike in the New Testament where the infilling of the Holy
Spirit is for all Born Again Christians and is permanent.
May the name of Jesus be lifted up and glorified!
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